mrshall1027 Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 Yes, we were putting a new small sheet in every day. He was covered in white spots and I think he just couldn't fight it anymore. Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrshall1027 Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 My better half built our sump this past Sunday but we won't install it until this coming weekend. Can't wait! Last night, I was fortunate enough to pick up a piece of Richard's Hollywood Stunner chalice and also got some beautiful red blastos from him while I was admiring his tank. I was out of super glue so I just put the chalice in a spot where he wouldn't get knocked over or fall. Well, this morning I saw that a piece of it was already taking shape to the rock - is it possible for a chalice to start attaching that quickly to rock? It's the spot that I was originally thinking of putting him, but now I'm definitely going to leave him there and see what happens over the next couple of days. Hopefully he's happy with the lighting when it comes on today. In the picture, you can see where it's forming on the lower right side of the chalice. Last night, it was sticking straight out to the side. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic. Also picked up some wammin watermelon zoas from Derek and some krypto candy canes from PeeperKeeper. Everything has opened up and is looking great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrshall1027 Posted January 25, 2013 Author Share Posted January 25, 2013 The hubby and I finally fixed our lighting situation tonight. It went surprisingly well and we love the final outcome! Total cost was under $5 (after we return the conduit bender). The shadow in the middle is almost gone and we can definitely live with the way it looks now. Before: After: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Very nice. So he basically made his own light rack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrshall1027 Posted January 25, 2013 Author Share Posted January 25, 2013 Yes, we just got a 10' piece of conduit and bent it into the shape we wanted. At first, we were going to do two L brackets out of the conduit, but this was much less work in the end. Didn't have to cut any of the pipe and just drilled holes to screw the lights on and to secure to the wall. I forgot to include in my previous post that we ordered a Reef Octopus OCT-CR140 Calcium Reactor and a Deluxe Calcium Reactor Package from Aqua Cave yesterday. I got a great deal on the reactor on eBay. I should have it in by Monday and the reactor package by mid week. I am so excited to be on my way to having SPS! What else would you SPS pros recommend before I dive into the SPS world??? I want to make sure I do as much as I can before I invest in any nicer pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Make sure your nitrates are at zero , stock your sump with some chaeto or mangroves, get some coral frenzy and dip all of your corals! You'll likely need a phosphate checker or equivalent for testing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Your tank looks great with the lights raised up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nwehrman Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Light rack looks great!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrshall1027 Posted January 26, 2013 Author Share Posted January 26, 2013 Thanks guys! We really love the way it looks now and we were pretty proud of ourselves after all was said and done. Added on another project to the list - ro/di station. We finally got tired of the trips to the LFS for water. A FS post for several 5 gallon buckets will be up soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrshall1027 Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 How is it that simple, small projects always turn into larger, more complex projects... With the addition of the calcium reactor and a Reefkeeper, more storage is needed then what's available under the tank stand. We ventured out this weekend, looking for some storage units that would still look nice since our tank is a focal point in our living room. After searching for a few hours and not finding anything, the hubs suggested just building something which I then counter suggested to reface our current tank stand and build out from it to make it look like one complete furniture piece. From there, we decided that we would just build a whole new stand with ample storage to make it exactly what we want. Our inspiration comes from our TV stand from Ikea. We like the clean lines and finish. Also, after being able to see Richard's tank in person and talking to him more about his build, we feel pretty comfortable working with the materials needed. The Ikea storage unit below shows the look we are going for, as it's the same finish as our entertainment unit. We are picking up the laminate tomorrow; we were able to find it locally and in stock. We went to Lowe's and got all the wood needed for the frame tonight and will build it much like this one: It will be ~49"x19"x30" in the middle with two smaller units on either side measuring ~ 19"x19"x30". On the left, we will house our auto top off container, under the stand will house our sump/refugium and reactor/co2 tank, and on the right side, we will house electrical items and controllers. Since we have to empty the tank to move it, the sand will be removed and replaced with crushed coral and probably rehome our coral banded shrimp. He keeps taking food from our nem! I'll try to take pics as we go through the build from start to finish. Wish us luck and keep your fingers crossed!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrshall1027 Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 The stand is complete and we are pretty happy with the turn out. I can't get the greatest picture of it, so this one will have to do for now. Excuse the 10 gallon on the side. It's our pod cultivating tank that we just haven't put in the stand yet. Here's a pic of the inside. In that last pic, it's on top of a furniture dolly because this thing is a beast! Without that, it wouldn't have made it in the house. We used twelve 10ft 2x4's for the frame. We wanted to make sure we could upgrade to a larger tank if we wanted to in the future. And, I guess it was good planning, because we are upgrading to a 135 soon! So, this build is complete and I'll probably start up another for the bigger tank. I can't believe we are already upgrading... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 it's the way of the world when it comes to reefing! The stand and storage units look great. Good thinking on just adding extra storage pods! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrshall1027 Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 Here's some pics of the process. I know the paint job looks a little sloppy, but it was all covered with facing so I wasn't too worried about making it look pretty at that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrshall1027 Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 it's the way of the world when it comes to reefing! The stand and storage units look great. Good thinking on just adding extra storage pods! Thanks! Having all the extra storage space has made life much easier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.